Sometimes a black hole opens in a culture and civility falls in. History teaches us that sometimes, good will and decency are trumped by avarice and authoritarianism. Read the stories of the Salem witch trials . . .
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I am reading so many good words these days, but sadly, none of them are coming from the president. That’s a shame, because throughout history, words have inspired people to resist tyranny, to slog through depressions and to find their better selves in times of crisis.
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My aunt Sylvia Gentile Brownstein died April 11 in a nursing home in New Jersey, of Covid-19. She was 97 years old, and lived in a room at the facility with her husband of 74 years, Murray Brownstein.
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When the bubonic plague struck England in 1665, a young pastor convinced the people of his village to self-quarantine in an effort to prevent the infection from spreading to neighboring towns. The story of that time became “Year of Wonder” . . .
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